It was one of the coldest tuns of my life, but this morning’s run was also the first one of the new year. So many possibilities for this Leap Year, so much ahead!

I bundled up in a long sleeved running shirt, Under Armor running tights, hat and gloves, but still felt cold to the bone. Instead of staying up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, I went to bed early and was up just before 5 am. I don’t drink and I’m not much of a fan of celebrating the new year anyway. It’s much more fun for me to be up and out early, even in the cold, to get a run in.

Icy puddle

There were only a few other early runners and walkers out as the sun peeked sleepily through the trees. It was the perfect morning to be a live, running, enjoying my run, I even enjoyed the cold while I ran.

I have big goals for this year. I reached most of the goals I set for myself last year, only a couple fell short. I got to New York City to see my beloved Rangers and visited the greatest city in the US, I ran my first marathon in 28 years; those were two huge goals I accomplished in 2015.

It’s cold, do I look cold??

For 2016, I have a few things I want to complete.

Lose 20 pounds and stay healthy

Run 3 marathons

Pass my CPT exam and move forward with my career

Save money

Those are my goals. I know I can move closer towards them.

Cheers!

PS: If you’re wondering what or who the little feline guy is at the top of the page, that’s Buster. He’s my running mascot. I found him on a run, took a picture, shared it on Facebook and then my friends wanted to see more pictures of him. So, you’ll see more pictures of him. If you have Instagram, he has his own account: @busterrunstheworld and you can follow me at: @Martha_Runs_SF

It’s a big thing now for running and fitness groups to set up challenges, especially at the start of the new year. It’s been a growing trend. A lot of people love these. I’ve joined a few myself in the past. They were fun, because I was able to help set up the guidelines and rules about the challenges.

But the new ones I’m seeing are more and more extreme. “Run 2015 miles in 2015” “Run 100 miles a month!” “Run 3 miles or Walk 3 miles or bike 3 miles every day!”..and more.

I understand that there are very good intentions behind these challenges. We all want to get in better shape and feel better. But, not everyone can do what everyone else can do. We all achieve our goals at different paces. And each of us have different levels of goals. There is no One Size Fits All. And these unfortunately make it seem as if everyone should do the same thing.

Add to that the appearance of competition and people feel badly if they’re not doing as much as someone else. I don’t mean to sound so politically correct, but running shouldn’t be keeping up with the Jones’, it should be a sport where one challenges oneself, not a group of other people.

I haven’t even mentioned the whole Rest Day. Many people who dive head first into these challenges don’t like rest days and don’t take them. It’s not a surprise that injuries happen. A runner’s rest day is JUST AS IMPORTANT as a running day. I truly wish runners wouldn’t look at a rest day with dismay. Enjoy your rest day. Indulge if you like, but realize that without a rest day, no muscle growth, and your chance of injury multiplies.

There are those runners who are “Streak Runners” – meaning they run without taking breaks in between. It’s not something I would ever do, or even think it’s a good thing to do, but a few people are okay doing that, the rest of us are more likely to get hurt, fatigued or sick. It’s better to slow down, take a day or two off and enjoy giving your body the rest it deserves.

And if you send me a request for yet another challenge, please don’t take it personally if I say “No thank you.”

So, I’m layed up for a few days with a sore knee. No running for a while. I’m not sure how long; it doesn’t feel great, not horrible, but I don’t want to make things worse, so taking it easy this week.

I’ve been running over 20 years and this is only my second injury. I’ve followed all the rules to smart running….I swim, I spin, I weight train, I don’t run too much, wear the right shoes, yadda, yadda, yadda….

AND…I post most of my progress on Facebook. Just last week I posted about what a great weight training session I had with my trainer at the Y going over some leg strengthening exercises we did. But tonight, I realized that some people on Facebook don’t care at all about others. I know, this is nothing new, but I’m not talking about the self-centered, myopic types out there, I’m talking about those who don’t mean to be that way, but they still are.

I’m talking about the exercise-obsessed maniacal types who think that you CANNOT LIVE without hearing about either their 1) workouts 2) weight loss methods or 3) self esteem programs.

We all know the types. We all have them on our friends lists. Maybe some of them are very good friends, or maybe they are just friends of friends. And we’ve all thought of deleting them. I HAVE deleted a few. Once they start pushing weight loss programs, they’re gone, gone, gone, baby….

If a friend wants to hock a business once in a while, that’s fine, I have no problems with that, however, when it turns into all they’re doing it, I have major problems. Because it turns into SPAM. They no longer read anything myself or anyone else is writing. They do not care. All they care about is broadcasting their message, whatever it is. And I no longer care what they are saying.

So their whole point of being on my friends list has disintegrated.

Why don’t we try to be better friends. Pay attention to what each other is saying, make an effort to CARE what each other is saying, even on Facebook and other social media outlets and stop merely thinking of we can push our own agenda.